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THE BLOGGY BIT...

This is where I ramble on about nothing in particular, in the hope that something may strike a chord with you, whether it be graphic design, football or real ale.

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Sunday 28th February 2010 20:59

I enjoyed two things today... the League Cup Final (AKA Carling Cup) and some shortbread biscuits. I lead an exciting life, don't I?
Coverage of the League Cup Final between Aston Villa v Manchester United started at 14:00 with an hour's worth of pre-match punditry coming from presenter, Gary Lineker and his studio guests, Alan Shearer, Gareth Southgate and Alan Hansen. The four of them were absolutely shocked when they noticed that Alex Ferguson hadn't included Wayne Rooney in the starting line-up at Wembley. Later, it was revealed that he'd had a 'bit of 'flu'. Now then, I'm no general practitioner yet I do know that you can't have a 'bit of 'flu'. You can have a bit of a cold, and that's what it probably was.

carling cup

Anyway, the game had a very lively start to the point where Villa were awarded a penalty in the 4th minute after Nemanja Vidic had hacked Gabriel Agbonlahor down in the penalty area. Bizarre though it may seem, Vidic received nothing but a caution. James Milner converted the penalty in fine style, leaving United 'keeper, Tomasz Kuszczak no chance. Some eight minutes later, after a dreadful mistake by Villa defender, Richard Dunne, Michael Owen swept a low strike right into the bottom left-hand corner of the net, with Brad Friedel not even managing to get his fingertips to it. The two teams went into half-time at 1-1, both sharing an equal percentage of play... just shy of half-time though Owen suffers yet another hamstring injury, on comes Wayne Rooney.
The second half almost seemed like stalemate, despite both teams wanting to win, there were a good few chances from both sides, yet it appeared that United were edging it more and more as the match went on. Then, in the 73rd minute, some inspirational build-up play between Dimitar Berbatov and Antonio Valencia led to a superb reverse cross, only for Wayne Rooney, who'd had a relatively quiet game, to score a looping header that left Friedel flailing. Villa tried everything to take it to extra time but United withstood all their pressure. The first silverware of the year went to Manchester United.
To find out more about the Carling Cup, please click on the logo above.

paterson's

(What about the shortbread biscuits! - Ed)
Oh yes, well reminded. Now then, there's something about shortbread isn't there? It's on a par with fudge... distinctly moreish. What's even better is that the bakery responsible for these particular shortbread fingers have been winning numerous awards, and quite rightly so.
It all started as far back as 1895 when John Paterson founded his bakery in the Royal Burgh of Rutherglen, where he sold his products from a horse-drawn van.
Paterson's, now with over 100 years of baking history have adapted the original shortbread recipe and today's consumer can still enjoy the same natural taste, with less than 3% of saturated fat. The fact that we both ate a quarter of the contents (there are 20 fingers in each pack) in one hit makes the healthiness of them so worthwhile. Sorry, but the golden fingers of melt in the mouth biscuit are just totally irresistible.
Click on the logo above to find out more about the company as well as the other product ranges they have on offer.

Saturday 27th February 2010 07:25

My latest batch of photography has had the desired affect in some respects. My Mum described my 'Eyelands in the Stream' as 'gross' and that she 'hated it'. A handful of colleagues thought it 'imaginative', others couldn't even look at it without feeling nauseous.
My niece, Hannah, thought the 'Fish Fingers' was 'gross'. My mate Lee stated, 'your latest round of gross and horrible photography that I cannot look at reminded me of J. K. Potter.'

j. k. potter photography

Lee provided a couple of links, and since then, I've found what appears to be his most up-to-date website. As Lee illustrated, 'J. K. Potter does weird and disturbing photography, but he's old school so he does it with lenses, combination shots and in the development process.'
'You should take a look at his book 'Horripilations' if you can find it. I've got a copy that I forgot about (because it's too fucking weird for me and freaks me out, so I never look at it) but you'll find some interesting stuff in it.' (That sounds a great idea, buy a book and then not look at it. You could do that sort of thing with all sorts of things; buy a film and not watch it, buy a car and not drive it - Ed)
Anyway, if you want to be freaked out, please click on the logo above (at the moment, I'm in the process of identifying the font).

pair quit while you're a head

I've had a few more ideas this week, continuing with my 'play on words' theme, two of which can be seen below, 'Quit while you're a head' and 'Pair'... more ideas in the pipeline...

x-rite

Later in the day, a fellow member of the PhotoPortal forum, Diane, who coincidentally hails from America as well (although Diane's in Missouri whilst Lee is in North Carolina), posted a superb thread to test how you see colour. Created by 'X-rite Photo', the online 'Colour IQ Test' is fun and simple to use; all you have to do is drag and drop the colours in each row so they're arranged in hue order, with the first and last 'chips' being fixed. Once you have completed the four rows, click on 'score test' to how you've faired.
X-Rite is the market leader in colour science and technology, which now includes colour industry giant, Pantone Inc. Through measurement systems, software, colour standards and services, they develop, manufacture, market and support innovative colour solutions, guaranteeing that users have their print colour right, not just the first time, but every time.
For more information about this global company, please click on their logo above.

Friday 26th February 2010 22:17

Today was the closing date for the first round of Amateur Photographer's APOY competition, the first of the ten set subjects being 'Islands in the Stream'. Rather than being somewhat predictable, I chose to interpret it using my 'play on words' head. I decided to use actual eyes as my EYElands... this meant a trip to H H Treagust & Sons, our local butcher's shop in Emsworth where I 'ordered' some pig's eyes, obviously from a whole pig that was delivered on Wednesday this week. Are you calling me weird?

APOY 10

As to how the competition judges will view my contribution is a totally different matter, especially as it's far removed from the actual brief, nevertheless, I still feel that non-conformance is the way forward.
For more information about the competition in association with Canon, please click on the image above.

imaginations

For those of you who are very familiar with my 'experimental' photography, you'll know I have a whole gallery devoted to it called 'Imaginations' (a great guy called Ron Lord coined the name for me and it suits the work within).
You can access that specific gallery by clicking on the graphic I designed for it above.

eyelands in the stream fish fingers nutcase

As well as creating the image for the above competition, I also had time to complete another photograph I've been working on recently which involved a trip to Emsworth butchers and fishmongers, M.R. Starr where I bought four Sprats for a whopping 30 pence. I photographed them as well as my left hand and manipulated the two together. See, told you I wasn't weird.
The final image to be included in today's blog is one that I created earlier in the month and I've finally had the time to add it to the 'Imaginations' gallery. It involved buying a bag of walnuts and then hacksawing one in half, making sure I was able to attach the top in such a way that it appeared to be an open case. The clothes were shot separately and added in such a way to make the whole image look believable.
Please click on either one of the three thumbnails above to view the larger images.

Thursday 25th February 2010 00:19

In the early hours of this morning, my mate Lee in America (hello, Lee) brought an important fact to my attention... that the artist responsible for the Flying Dog graphics is none other than Ralph Steadman, a rather famous British artist with an Honorary D. Litt from the University of Kent.

Born in Wallasey in 1936, he started his career as a cartoonist and explored many other fields of creativity throughout his illustrious years (puns are out, I see - Ed). He is well known for the illustrations in classics such as 'Alice in Wonderland', 'Treasure Island' and 'Animal Farm'.

ralph steadman

As well as illustrating in books, he's published a few of his own, including the lives of Sigmund Freud and Leonardo da Vinci, as well as 'The Big I Am', a book all about the story of God. His collaboration with Hunter S. Thompson spawned the birth of Gonzo journalism, the definitive book in the genre, 'Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas' being made into a feature film.

'Plague and the Moonflower', of which he wrote the libretto for in 1989, ended up being performed in five cathedrals across the UK and also became the subject for a BBC2 film in 1994. As if his passions would end there, he's also travelled the world's vineyards and distilleries on behalf of Oddbins, the wine merchants, which concluded with two prize-winning books, 'The Grapes of Ralph' and 'Still Life With Bottle'.
To view some of his incredible work, please click on his signature above.

Wednesday 24th February 2010 20:10

Foolishly, I finally decided to create some additional pages on my website. Earlier this month, the 7th to be precise, I'd talked about adding six new images to the galleries; when I say new, they'll be new to you, however, the majority of them are possibly ten years old, maybe more.

achievements

The transition is still in its infancy, for there's a good deal of work to be done, but at least I've managed to adjust the core of my website. On the main tier of pages, you should notice a new icon, resembling a trophy (as the graphic above), click on there and you can then see my various accomplishments and achievements within photographic federations, magazines and competitions by clicking on the various logos found within the left-hand panel.

L&CPU PAGB SPF

There may be cause to change the layout slightly, as I'd like to include slightly larger images of the various federations, magazines et al, especially as I spent so long redrawing some. It would also give me an opportunity to provide links to them.
For the moment though, I'll include the three photographic federations, the L&CPU (Lancashire & Cheshire Photographic Union), the PAGB (The Photographic Alliance of Great Britain) and the SPF (Southern Photographic Federation).
Please click on any of the logos above to find out more.

Tuesday 23rd February 2010 17:47

Now then, would you expect a flying dog to travel fast? No, didn't think so, which is why I asked. The equation of how fast a flying dog travels is relatively simple... you divide the number of days there are between December 24th and February 23rd (which is 61) by the distance between Frederick, Maryland, US and Havant, Hampshire, UK (which is 3656.769 miles). Convert the 61 days into hours (1464) and then you'll be able to work out how many miles/hour a flying dog can travel at... it's just under 2½ miles per hour (2.497793 to be precise). You may question my peculiarity, and I don't blame you for one minute.

Now that I have cleared that equation up, I can reveal that this isn't any old Flying Dog, this is a superb American brewery called Flying Dog. The reason for all the workings out is because I contacted them via email on Christmas Eve, asking if they could provide me with some artwork from their beer labels. It wasn't until today that I actually heard back from them, hence the sarcasm above. The thing is though, their beer is such good shit, I'm not surprised it took them that long... and it was well worth the wait too, they granted me access to all of their branding database.

flying dog classic pale ale

There are many things to admire about this brewery... their logo has attitude, their beer label artwork is incredibly cool, almost implying that their beer fucks you up, for there are skeleton's heads on some and blood-thirsty dogs with rows of razor-sharp teeth. When such labels jump out at you, you cannot resist the temptation to buy, and the good thing is, you won't be disappointed.

gonzo imperial porter

The brewery have just launched their 20th Anniversary beer, 'Raging Bitch'. They say it's cruel to keep a wild animal locked up. It's nectar imprisoned in a bottle. Uncap it. I intend to, although I've only seen a handful of their beers over here... they're sold in Tesco.
I've tried two of their beers, the first, 'Classic Pale Ale', a 5.5% ABV multi-award winning ale, brewed with Northern Brewer and shit loads of Cascade hops. It's a distinctly crafted ale full of hop aroma and flavour. It's the dog's bollocks as we'd say. Brilliantly refreshing.
The other, "Gonzo Imperial Porter' is a totally different kettle of fish, it's dark, malty and chocolatey. With powerful roasted flavours, this 7.8% ABV porter is one to be savoured, otherwise you'll know about it. Despite its strength, the flavours are perfect.
I'm sure I will be talking about other Flying Dog ales very soon, in the meantime though, please click on either one of the beer labels to find out much more about the American brewery.

Monday 22nd February 2010 22:20

As you may well know, I love any sort of design-based sites, whether they be graphical or typographical and I'd like to talk about one that has been a relatively new discovery for me.
Russian-based 'Popsop' is an online daily brand magazine and, as they state, 'every morning, thousands of brand-nuts-readers visit Popsop to check out the latest worldwide brand news, spiced up with the most recent design and packaging makeovers and startups.'

popsop

The site is exceptional and is definitely on a par with the likes of Brand Republic and similar. The site also offers advertising space and when there's a return of approximately 100,000 visitors per month with over 300,000 page views a month, the $1,950 (three months) or the $3,225 (six months) seems remarkably good value for money for a premium listing within their agency directory, considering. You're not likely to have me part with such cash though. Fuck that for a game of KerPlunk. Anyway, joking apart, the site is just full of excellent stuff as well as having a superb archive section.
Please click on their logo above to find out much more.

Sunday 21st February 2010 12:00

Had a very quiet day indoors today, just as well really, it rained constantly throughout the day. Another good reason for staying in (or at least I was hoping it would be) was that the Premiership tie between local rivals Blackburn Rovers v Bolton Wanderers was being televised on ESPN, the sports channel that bought out Setanta a few months ago.

ESPN

I don't have an awful lot to say about the game really, except that the 3-0 scoreline flattered Blackburn's performance somewhat; the goals coming from Nikola Kalinic 41, Jason Roberts 73 and Gaël Givet 84. Having said that though, Bolton were totally shite and it's about time that Owen Coyle stopped picking Fabrice Muamba and Johan Elmander as first team choices. Muamba is great as a defensive midfielder but someone should kick his ass for ever attempting shots on goal. So, the final result pissed me off for the rest of the day, especially as Bolton stay rooted in the bottom three.
Anyway, to find out more about ESPN, please click on their logo above.

galaxy bubbles

During the week, I'd spotted a new chocolate bar that deserved a try. Chocolate is one of those things that I can take or leave really, although a large bar of Yorkie never goes amiss. Anyway, the new chocolate bar comes from Galaxy (who are owned by Mars, in case you didn't know) and it's simply called 'Bubbles'. At first glance, it's fairly similar to an Aero yet the chocolate within is much creamier, melting in your mouth almost instantly. The launch of the new bar is supported by £2.5 million so Galaxy aren't taking it lightly, even if it is full of air.
Please click on the logo above to find out more about Galaxy chocolate.

Saturday 20th February 2010 11:39

We had a lovely walk around Heath Pond in Petersfield this morning, followed by lunch in Rowan's Deli again, along with Abbi and two toddlers who she was looking after. Not only did we all enjoy ourselves immensely, Abbi also paid for lunch, which was nice. Whilst I was in there, I couldn't resist buying a couple of real ales, particularly as my stock had almost diminished.

parachute

Anyway, for quite some now, I've been wanting to talk about two font foundries that are as cool as a cucumber (What, a bit like that saying? - Ed). Firstly, there's Parachute, an Athens-based typeface foundry that was started in 1999 by Panos Vassiliou, a University of Toronto graduate who decided to turn his passion for design and typography into a profession. The other, Storm Type Foundry was founded by Frantisek Storm in Prague in 1993 with the aim of restoring the values of classical typography for the benefit of digital technologies and now provides marketing services for high-quality fonts.

storm type foundry

There are many superb fonts available from both foundries, yet I'd go as far to say as PF Beau Sans (Parachute) and Etelka (Storm Type Foundry) have to be two of my favourites.
If you let your mouse hover over either of the two logos above, you'll see an example of each font; click on either and you'll be taken to the relevant type foundry.

harveys ales

Going back to the real ales I bought from Rowans Deli, they were both from the same brewery, Harveys. The brewery, now in its seventh generation, is based in Lewes, West Sussex and have been associated with the supply of fine wines and ales for over two centuries. Their bottled ale range is fairly extensive, a few of which I'd already tried, yet there are still a good few to go at. The two I bought were, Blue Label ABV 3.6% and Lewes Castle Brown Ale ABV 4.8%, reports to follow.
In the meantime, please click on the logo above to find out more about the brewery.

Friday 19th February 2010 22:46

Here's an interesting fact... back in 1987, Thomas Knoll, a student studying for his PhD at the University of Michigan began writing a program on his Macintosh Plus so that he'd be able to view greyscale images on his monochrome monitor. He called this program, 'Display' and his brother John recommended that he should develop it into a full image editing program. In 1988, Thomas did just that by taking a six-month break from his studies to collaborate with his brother, with the program taking on other names later that year. Approximately 200 copies were distributed via Barneyscan, a scanner manufacturer that had agreed to ship the program out with their slide scanners.

photoshop CS4

In the meantime, John gave a demonstration of the program to engineers at Apple, as well as Adobe's art director, Russell Brown. The showings were so successful that Adobe purchased the distribution license in September 1988. From there, John worked on the program's plug-ins, whilst Thomas continued to write the program code and on Monday 19th February 1990 (twenty years ago to the very day), Photoshop 1.0 was released... exclusively for Macintosh (they should have kept it that way). I remember using that very program and thinking how incredible it was, looking back though, it was nothing compared with Photoshop 11.0.1, or CS4 as it's known.
For more information about Adobe Photoshop, please click on the logo above.

Thursday 18th February 2010 22:48

During my parents' visit last week, my Dad told me of a website where you are able to download MP3s. Cleverly, as Pirate Bay proved, the site has a disclaimer stating that none of the files shown on the site are either hosted and transmitted by their server, the links to such files are provided solely by the site's users, so therefore their arses are covered.
Neither can they be held responsible for what the site's members post, or any of their actions. So basically they have themselves legally covered, especially as they stipulate that you cannot use the site to distribute or download any material that you do not have the legal rights to do so and it's your responsibility to adhere to those terms. How they expect that anyone visiting the website has the legal rights to upload or download MP3 files is beyond me, nevertheless, I'd go as far to say that decision is at your discretion. If anyone's going to get shafted, it's you.

israbox

I haven't tried downloading anything, yet their music catalogue seems to be extensive, and for ease of use, they've categorised every song into its specific music genre such as Blues, Classical Music, Country, Electronic (which, by the way, has eight sub-categories), Funk, Hip-Hop, Jazz, Instrumental, Pop, R&B, Reggae, Rock, Soul, Soundtrack and World. Two other categories include Other and Movies/TV Shows, and that's the website in a nutshell. You have the option of searching for a specific song or artist, as well as having the option to click on the letters of the alphabet, where it then gives you a comprehensive list of the artists that would be chronologically filed under that letter... under 'J' for instance, you may have Jellyfish or Elton John... I'm sure you get the idea.
For more information please click on the logo above, or download a vector-based PDF of it that I drew, here.

Wednesday 17th February 2010 11:01

There are many diseases and ailments that all kinds of people suffer from, some nastier than others to the point where they're life-threatening. Quite often though, it's the ones that cause spasmodic pain that can often be the worse. Gout is one of those.

Historically known as 'the disease of kings' or 'rich man's disease', gout is a medical condition whereby there are recurring attacks of acute inflammatory arthritis and result in red, tender, hot, swollen joints. High levels of uric acid in the blood crystallise which is then deposited in joints, tendons and surrounding body tissue. Remarkably, 75% of the first attacks of gout occur in the metatarsalphalangeal joint, found at the base of the big toe. The main reason for for attacks within the feet is partly due to low weather temperatures.
There are various ways of alleviating the pain with use of NSAIDs, steroids or colchicine although the levels of uric acid within the body can be lowered by significant changes in lifestyle, particularly diet. There is a very strong association with the consumption of alcohol, sugar, meat and seafood whereas dairy products, vegetables and protein-filled food do not affect the occurrence of gout.

UK gout society

Hyperuricemia however, is the underlying cause of the disease. People with this condition have an abnormally high level of uric acid in the blood and about 10% of people with it, develop gout. It can occur for a number of reasons including dietary, genetic or under excretion of urate (Oh come on, don't you think you've said enough? - Ed) Allopurinol helps incredibly with long term prevention for it blocks uric acid production and is the most commonly used hyperuricemic agent, although sensitivity to the drug can occur in a small number of people.

Common misconceptions of gout include facts such as; 76% of people had no idea that gout was painful. Whilst over half surveyed were correct in thinking that it usually occurred in the toes, 4% thought it was the kidneys, 1% thought the nose and 20% didn't know. Furthermore, 17% thought that it was caused by an infection and 9% thought smoking was the cause. Others thought that it resulted in gangrene of the toes and some even believed it led to bloating of the stomach. I do know that it rhymes with shout, and that's a fact.
There is a UK Gout Society that provides more awareness, fact sheets as well as diet and treatment sheets - please click on the logo above to find out much more.

Tuesday 16th February 2010 21:16

Last Friday, I mentioned that we'd enjoyed some wine with our meal. I think I may have mentioned in the past that I was never a great lover of any wine, whether it be white, red or rosé, however, that all changed about three years ago. I'd say white is definitely my favourite, followed by rosé and it was a rosé that we enjoyed on Friday night, 'Valencia Vino Rosado', a soft and juicy wine with a ripe strawberry fruit character.

valencia

Another huge reason why I want to talk about it is because of its exceptionally cool logo. The contemporary graphic, excellent use of colours, along with the superb choice of font make this logo worth talking about.
I suggest you click on the logo above and buy a bottle because the taste matches the logo.

nutcase

Tonight, I also managed to complete one of my many 'play on words' theme. As yet, I haven't added it to my gallery for there's another one which needs a little more work... the image above is 'Nutcase', I say that because someone thought it was a jacket potato!

The prints I entered into the 3rd Open League Competition at Havant Camera Club were judged tonight. Unfortunately, down to the fact that Havant has to be the only club in existence that chooses not to read out the image titles, the judge thought my 'Flight of Stairs' were flying cubes. My immediate reaction was, "Bollocks!" Ah well, he still gave it 8½/10, quite a generous mark considering. 'Strolling in the Shadows' managed a fantastic 9½/10 and earned me a certificate of merit. Tanya managed a 10/10 for one of hers so we both went home happy bunnies.

Monday 15th February 2010 07:27

Today's blog may win me friends... then again, it may have the opposite effect, all I do know is that this particular subject remains to be something I am incredibly passionate about... cruelty to animals. In my opinion, anyone who conducts any form of harm to a defenceless animal needs to die an incredibly painful death, slowly.

There are certain 'sports' where, at the end of what is obviously a terrifying ordeal, a helpless animal is killed, not an instantaneous death either. You may question why I have a problem with this, since I eat meat, and especially as the farm animals are driven to an abattoir and may well have a sixth sense as to what's going to happen to them... nevertheless, I do feel that their demise is far more humane than what goes on within the various 'sports' that are conducted throughout Britain.

league against cruel sports

Now then, I want to make a couple of things clear before I start ranting big time. Bullfighting... yes, it's a despicable end to a bull's life yet I really don't think we should concern ourselves about the traditions of another country... nor do I find that racing animals is particularly cruel either, even though there are obviously occasional casualties at The Grand National and elsewhere. The thing is, the people who involve themselves with such inhumane activities rant on and on about how the 'sports' are a tradition.
Cricket is a traditional sport in England, yet the umpire doesn't die from being buggered to death with the cricket stumps at the end of a Test Match. Christmas is a tradition but you don't feel the need to impale a reindeer's arse with the pointy end of your Christmas Tree, do you?

It's the 'sports' such as Fox Hunting, Badger Baiting and Hare Coursing that makes my blood boil. Who the fuck do these people think they are? Maybe we should round the twats up, fly them to a remote island, release them into the wild and then set a pride of hungry lions on the same island and let nature take its course... now that would be one hell of a reality programme.
If you feel as strongly as I do, please click on the logo above to find out more about the League Against Cruel Sports.

Sunday 14th February 2010 11:32

Cock. It was the last day of our holiday. We gave each other our Valentine's Day cards and decided to get out relatively early because another FA Cup fifth round fixture was being televised on ITV1 early in the afternoon... Bolton v Spurs, a fixture I obviously couldn't miss.

find a tearoom

We did manage our third brisk walk around Emsworth Mill Pond, in as many days, and stopped off at the Flintstone Tea Rooms for brunch. For those who aren't familiar with Emsworth, it sits right near the quayside and is in a bit of a goldmine spot, attracting many tourists and locals as they amble around the small town. I'm never quite sure whether to call Emsworth a town or a village... if you take the whole area, taking into account it does have a thriving centre, then yes, it's a small town, yet is has a distinct village feel where it appears that everyone knows everyone.
Anyway, back to the Tea Rooms... we both ordered toasties, both served with a modest portion of salad, Tanya had Bacon and Brie whereas I opted for the working man's version, Ham and Cheese, and we also had a pot of tea for two. Lovely.
Unfortunately, Flintstones Tea Rooms don not have a website, nevertheless their details can be obtained by clicking on the link above.

bolton v spurs

Once home, we just sat and chilled out watching the game televised live from the Reebok. Bolton started with passion, outplaying Tottenham throughout the whole of the first half, although I have to say, I really don't rate Bolton's striker, Johan Elmander. He just doesn't seem to possess the prowess of a Premiership striker, often being incredibly greedy, not passing the ball at vital moments and very rarely looks around to see possible openings, in fact, he's a big fucking bag of 10m lolloping Swedish bollocks, however, I do hope he proves me wrong for the remainder of the season.
Kevin Davies on the other hand is the complete opposite for he's always looking for openings, forever providing glancing headers, strong as an ox against defenders and really plays with the required passion. Sure enough, it was Davies who opened up the scoring in the 34th minute with a superlative finish after exquisite build-up play throughout the midfield.
The game remained 1-0 at the interval, all down to Elmander's comedy misses.

Harry Redknapp must have had some pretty stern words during half time because Spurs totally turned the table and came out the fighters in the second half; Bolton hardly had a look-in. Sure enough, after some superb work from Gareth Bale, he found Jermaine Defoe in the centre of the penalty area, who'd cleverly peeled away from some severe man-marking, only for the striker to score a virtual replica of Kevin Davies' goal in the first half. In the 71st minute, Spurs were awarded a penalty after an innocuous hand ball by Sam Ricketts. Tom Huddlestone was the man to take it, Jussi Jaaskelainen was the man to save it. Justice prevailed.
From then on, very little happened and the fixture will be replayed at White Hart Lane... unfortunately, I don't fancy Bolton's chances...

Saturday 13th February 2010 13:18

The day had come for my parents to make the long trip back up north to home. Luckily for them though, they were facing a completely stress-free journey via part of England's rail network. Although it meant they'd be travelling for approximately five hours, those five hours would mean they could sit and relax, stretch their legs if need be, go to the toilet without it affecting their journey time, have a cup of coffee or tea (or even stronger if they so wished). Anyway, I sound green with envy, yet there is still the convenience of the motor car which can outweigh all of that, just about.

We managed to have a very relaxing morning before taking my parents to Havant train station, it even involved making some bacon sandwiches before they left. We also managed to catch the first few minutes of the FA Cup fifth round tie between Championship side and local rivals Southampton against good old Pompey. More about that later...

southampton v portsmouth

We arrived at the station with around half an hour to spare and we were all somewhat tearful about having to part company. As well as that, my parents had broken the news earlier that they'd managed to see my children for the first time in over three years, so it seemed right to give each other huge hugs and then go our separate ways and allow it all to sink in.
It was a huge bombshell, yet this bombshell was an unbelievably relieving one, if there's such a thing. Obviously I had many questions to ask, especially as it's almost four years since I've had a chance to see them, yet the most important thing of all for me was that they are happy. I know my parents aren't getting any younger, particularly my Dad, so it's of the utmost importance for them to have been able to see them again. We wished my Mum and Dad a safe journey and went back home to catch the rest of the football match... I couldn't have asked for anything better to take my mind off things - more the fact that my Dad had been so under the weather healthwise.

At half time the game was stalemate, neither side being able to score, although David James pulled off some world-class saves to keep Pompey in it. It took over an hour before Pompey opened the scoring in the 66th minute when Quincy Owusu-Abeyie got on the end of a pass from Utaka, although four minutes later Richard Lambert headed in at the far post from a free kick in the 70th minute. It seemed as if it would be an incredibly tense last twenty minutes, yet five minutes later Aruna Dindane bagged Pompey's second goal. It was decidedly difficult to determine which way the game would swing until Nadir Belhadj scored a tremendous goal in the 82nd minute, from a solo effort on the left flank... 3-1. Surely there would be no possibility that Southampton could come back now... correct. To seal a somewhat flattering victory, Jamie O'Hara volleyed in a fourth goal for Pompey in the 85th minute. Game over at 1-4, Pompey sealing their first ever win at St. Mary's.

inglourious basterds

Later on that night we finally sat down to watch Tarantino's latest film, 'Inglourious Basterds', an explosive and stunning film that has already received eight Academy Awards nominations. Set in World War II, Lt. Aldo Raine (Brad Pitt) takes no prisoners as him and his other Nazi-scalping squad members aim to down the leaders of the Third Reich. As with all Tarantino films, it's typically gory with lots of violence... brilliant stuff.
Please click on the movie logo above to find out more.

Friday 12th February 2010 10:33

Our last full day with my parents had arrived... just seems crazy how quickly time passes by even more so when it's far more valuable than usual. You'd hope that when it's been six months since last seeing them, it may pass by that little bit slower.

Since it was our last full day, we'd made absolutely certain that nothing would be rushed so that we could make the most of the day. My parents had packed in good time (they were staying with us tonight because their 'deal' had ended, although they had enquired as to how much a further night would cost - £57 opposed to the £30 a night they'd been paying throughout the week!) Once we'd picked them up, we then drove the 'back road' to Chichester, through villages such as Funtington and East Ashling.

Although the city centre was quite busy, we didn't have much trouble parking at all and decided to take advantage of where we were parked by walking along some of the city's 'Walls Walk'. Originally of Roman origin, the majority of the remains are medieval and once had gates that pierced the walls at the end of the four main streets, but these were sadly demolished in the eighteenth century. Nevertheless, there are sufficient remains of the wall for an interesting walk that lasts around an hour.

M&S

Before we headed off to visit other areas of the city, Tanya had chosen to return a Christmas present from Marks & Spencer that my parents had bought her, in the hope that she could either have a refund or gift vouchers in return. My Mum had had doubts about what she'd bought so it's just as well they'd brought the receipt down with them.
For more information about M&S, please click on the logo above.

I feel I must apologise for some of the slightly tenuous links in today's blog. It's not that that Chichester has a lack of them, more a case of me not particularly wanting to duplicate ones I have recently used.

From there, we then explored some of the Bishop's Palace Gardens, very close to the grounds of Chichester Cathedral. Tanya and I had discovered them during the Christmas break and thought it would be good to show my parents the ongoing work there. They'd come on leaps and bounds since we'd been there and, once complete, they should look stunning. We then had enough time to go to Chichester Cathedral and show my parents much more of it (it seemed that a substantial part of it was inaccessible last time we were there). Both were definitely bowled over as to just how engaging the building is.

sophie hacker

Whilst walking around the Cathedral, we stumbled upon a brilliant exhibition of artwork by a woman called Sophie Hacker. She had around twelve paintings on display, all of which were absolutely superb. She originally trained as an artist in Oxford and at the Slade School of Art and now many of her paintings and sculptures adorn public spaces or private collections.
For much more information about Sophie and her work, please click on the logo above.

We never miss an opportunity to visit Emsworth with my parents, mainly down to the fact that they have the same affection for it as we do. We took the Fishbourne, Bosham, Chidham, Nutbourne, Southbourne route back to Emsworth, in other words, the A259. By the time we arrived there, we were all famished and decided to head straight for The Blue Bell Inn, our favourite haunt in the quaint little fishing town. As always, the food was exceptional, as was the Sharp's Doom Bar that we'd chosen to accompany it.

After a relaxed walk around the Mill Pond and buying a few bits and bobs, we headed off back home where I made a Chicken Tikka Massala for our evening meal. We then chilled out with a few glasses of beer and wine whilst watching 'QI' and '8 out of 10 Cats'.

Thursday 11th February 2010 11:00

Our original plan was to either go to Brighton or possibly Winchester today. We dismissed the first for being too far away and a resort better visited during the summer months, the second because we wanted to, we don't have to give reasons, so there.

visit midhurst

Tanya came up with the great idea of going to Midhurst, for none of us had ever been there, despite it being relatively close by. Rather than head off on the same route as yesterday, I chose to drive along the country roads that take you from Rowlands Castle to Buriton and then take the signs to Midhurst from Petersfield.
Directly north of Chichester, and part of their District Council, Midhurst is a beautiful market town, steeped in history. It has a wealth of historic buildings, Cowdray possibly being its most famous, as well as having country houses, gardens, museums, galleries and theatres.
For more information about the town, please click on the logo above.

cowdray

When we arrived, we parked on the tourist information car park, with Cowdray facing us. It is one of southern England's most important early Tudor courtier palaces, set in the stunning grounds that surround it. Built around 1520 and visited by royals such as Henry VIII and Elizabeth I, the building was partly destroyed by fire in 1793 (nothing to do with them, mind - Ed) although you are able to explore the Tudor kitchens and gatehouse. The Cowdray Estate offers many pursuits that are quintessentially English, such as golf, fishing, clay pigeon shooting and polo. Unfortunately for us, the 2010 season starts from the 17th March so all we could do was admire from afar.
To find out much more about what the historic site has to offer, please click on the logo above.

ballards brewery

Whilst in Midhurst, I seemed to recall that there was a brewery either within the town or on the outskirts, and after a quick 'Google' on my mobile, it became clear that Ballard's Brewery was on the way out of Midhurst, in a small hamlet called Nyewood. A quick punch in of the post code on our satnav and sure enough, we were on our way. After several single-track roads we finally arrived and although the place looked deserted, I had a good feeling that we were on to a winner... sure enough, we were. I checked first and eventually a jolly old soul came out to assist. It wasn't long before I'd bought a pack of four of their real ales, 'Nyewood Gold', 'Ballard's Best Bitter', 'Wassail' and 'Duck House', the last two were new to me. He then asked if I'd like a five-minute tour around the brewery, so my parents joined me to listen about how real ale is made and off we went.
For more information about the brewery, please click on the logo above.

rowan's deli

From there, we then had a slightly disastrous visit to Haslemere... we drove there and then realised it wasn't quite as pretty as originally thought, so we ended up driving all the way back to Petersfield, by which time it was late afternoon so we stopped at Rowan's Delicatessen for Cream Teas all round. Not only did they serve cream teas, they also had a large stock of real ales, (you mean you hadn't sniffed that one out, even though you work just up the road?! - Ed) some of which I'd had, yet the vast majority I hadn't. Having already spent money on four earlier, I would have to resist temptation... that was until my Mum offered to buy my choice of two. Bargain!
Please click on the Rowan's Deli logo to find out much more.

Wednesday 10th February 2010 10:34

We picked my parents up from the hotel this morning and then continued on to Selborne, our destination for the day. We'd prepared a packed lunch and were all set to explore the village and the Gilbert White House and Gardens whilst there. Other than a small detour, we arrived in good time, to be met with flurries of snow along the way.

Once there, we'd decided to try and tackle the Zig Zag walk, a zig-zagged path taking you up an incredibly steep incline, yet it would have proved too much for my Dad, particularly as he has a nasty chest infection right now. Another time perhaps? Nevertheless, the path we were on led us onto another, more manageable one that took us all around the back of the gardens at Gilbert White's House and eventually, back onto the main road.
We then went on to explore St. Mary's Church, a beautiful 12th century Norman church, particularly its stained glass windows, two of which depict Gilbert White and his life - look out for the one with the birds on it. It was then a quick mooch around The Selborne Gallery before heading back to the car to sit and enjoy our lunch.

gilbert white's house

After we'd satisfied our appetites, we walked down to Gilbert White's House - because Tanya and I had visited last September, it meant that our Annual Season Ticket was still valid and my parents had a concessionary rate, due to them both being retired. Before we concentrated on the house itself, we had a good walk around the 40 acres that the attraction has to offer. Even though we're in the midst of winter, the landscaping is excellent and we all said how much we'd enjoy to see the transformation of the gardens in summer. Once back inside, out of the bitterly cold wind, we had a good look around the museum and headed off home in time to beat the rush hour traffic.

triple fff brewery

Whilst in the museum shop, Tanya and my Mum sneakily spotted a real ale that I hadn't had. I was pleased they had, yet annoyed that I hadn't sniffed it out myself. You may find it strange that a museum shop would sell such a thing, until that is, you see that the ale is called 'Gilbert White'. It's brewed by Alton-based Triple FFF Brewery and has a respectable ABV of 6%, a superb dark ale which has been based on one of Gilbert White's recipes produced at his home called 'The Wakes'. If you can get your mitts on one, please do.
For more information about the brewery, please click on the Triple FFF logo above.

Tuesday 9th February 2010 16:18

It's been over a year since my parents have travelled down to see us, so Tanya and I were more than looking forward to their visit. Once again, Tanya had played a blinder, not just with the train tickets, she'd also managed to book them into the Innkeeper's Lodge, just up the road, for a terrific price which also included breakfast.

innkeeper's lodge

Apart from a slight delay (a tree had fallen on the line between Southampton and Portsmouth), they arrived in good time. It was great to see them both, particularly as August was the last time we had, and that has to be the longest time I've ever gone without seeing them. From the station, we then drove them to their hotel and we were all more than impressed with the size of the room, its decor and the cleanliness. £30 a night plus breakfast is a very reasonable price indeed.
To find out more about Innkeeper's Lodge, please click on their logo above.

the beer book DKNY men

Once they'd dropped off their case, we then headed back to ours where I put the oven on to cook the low fat Beef Lasagne I'd prepared earlier. This allowed us enough time to exchange our Christmas presents (WTF?!?! - Ed). Yes, it was the first occasion we'd been able to - we had talked about sending them but our original plan had been for them to visit early January so chose not to. The giving and receiving was both surreal yet alluring and virtually every present was a success. I have to talk about two of mine in particular, a fantastic book all about different beers of the world, over 1700 to be precise and some DKNY aftershave.
To find out more about either, please click on the relevant logo above.

flight of stairs strolling in the shadows

Sky Sports 1 happened to be televising the Manchester City v Bolton game, and I had let my parents know in time (not that my Dad would've minded) so they knew that we'd have to watch it. In the meantime, Tanya whizzed up to Camera Club to drop off our prints ready to be judged next week for the 3rd Open League Competition (I've included thumbnails of both above - please click on either to view the larger image). Anyway, quickly back to the game... unfortunately, Manchester City won 2-0 and once again, Bolton were robbed of a penalty when City were only 1-0 up, so that's the second successive match where the referee has lived up to 'being a wanker'.

Monday 8th February 2010 13:01

There are many heated debates about all sorts of things... Nikon or Canon, Macdonalds or Burger King, Salad Cream or Mayonnaise to name just a few. There is one however, that has been debated over and over again, yet I can finally put an end to it, once and for all. Seriously, this will be the end of the Mac versus PC debate.

apple windows

First of all, we'll compare the Apple and Windows logos, I could have been completely unfair by making the comparison of Apple and Microsoft, after all, those are the two companies, nevertheless, I'll give the PC team a glimmer of hope...
So, Apple on the left, Windows on the right. Apple is a simple design with a beautiful metallic and stylish look with muted colours and Windows, well, errrmm... typically eighties shite, wank colours, an actual window where a designer has thought, "ooooohhh, how cool does that swirl look?!" It looks shite mate, truth be known... next!

snow leopard windows 7

So, we've confirmed that the Apple logo wins hands down so now we'll concentrate on the latest operating software packaging. Apple's 'Snow Leopard' against 'Windows 7'. The Macintosh packaging is again simplistic with a very high key photograph of a Snow Leopard. Windows 7 is blue with a cut-off corner... inside the package, you'll see how many more times they cut corners designing the actual program... next!
Nevertheless, here's a good time to click on either image to visit the official websites of both companies.

osx desktop

Okay, how about start-up screens... what are you greeted with once your computer is turned on? Above, you'll see Mac's latest desktop image, a futuristic skyscape with lots of promise and below, you'll see the Windows 7 start-up screen which looks as if it's been taken underwater... yes, the company is ironically sinking further and further away from the heights of Apple's superiority.

windows 7 desktop

And, if that wasn't enough, I've even included the start-up sounds of both Mac and PC for you to make comparisons to... click on either start-up screen to listen to their sounds. Mac with a dramatic 'chime' which promises you strength and reliability... PC with its camp sounding "dah-der dah-der" doesn't exactly leave you with any positive feelings, almost as if it could go down on you at any given moment...

Sunday 7th February 2010 16:53

Twenty one years ago, when I was 21 (old fart - Ed), I suddenly realised that my eyesight just wasn't what it was when I was waiting to catch a bus and I really struggled making out its number. A few weeks later, I suffered my one and only migraine, a typical sign of failing eyesight and it was then when I bought my first pair of glasses with a distinctly Lennon-esque shaped frame.
Anyway, the reason I'm talking about eyesight is because of an advert I saw on television during the Chelsea v Arsenal game on Sky Sports 1 this afternoon. Before I continue talking about the advert, Chelsea won 2-0, much to my delight.

specsavers

The advert was the latest from Specsavers, the largest privately owned opticians in the world, and the market leader in the UK. One in three people in the UK who wear glasses have bought them from Specsavers. The multi-national company is run by founders, Doug and Dame Mary Perkins, where it has more than 1000 stores in Europe and is rapidly expanding in Australia.
To see their latest witty offering, please click on the logo above, alternatively, click here to visit their website.

big ben reflects clock at the dock contemporary opera cubism superstitious thought waves

Later on in the day, I decided that I needed to add six images to my website; not the gallery as such, more in a place where it shows off the images that I have had accepted into exhibitions, won national awards, been published or successful commissioned work. Another good reason is because the six images below were also used in my twenty-minute talk at Havant Camera Club last month.
The new section is some way off, although I have made a good start already. Once all of the pages are in place, I shall link the images above.

Saturday 6th February 2010 14:46

Our original plan, albeit a late decision in the week, was to head off to Alton Beer Festival today, yet there ended up being a few deciding factors that prevented us all from going. In the end, we picked up Damien, Tanya's brother, and headed off to Morrisons to do our weekly shops. With my parents coming down to visit us for a few days during the week, there was more than the usual essentials to buy. Despite it being fecking busy, it was a relatively trauma-free visit, made much easier by stuffing our faces with a scrummy breakfast from the store's café.

hopback brewery rch brewery

Later on in the afternoon, to make up for the disappointment of not heading off to the beer festival, I said to Tanya that a visit to Southwick Brewhouse was on the cards, especially as we're both off this week... always good to have a stock of real ale in the house.
I love visiting the place, always good to have a chat with the owner, talk about real ales and take any advice on what's good. There's always a great rotation of stock as well, so there is always something new to try out. There are very few real ales that I haven't liked and since our tastes seem to be very similar, it's as well to ask.

kelham island brewery wizard ales

I ended up buying eight new ones (new to me that is); some from breweries that I'd never tried anything from, others where I knew the brewery and therefore there would be a strong chance of me liking them. The eight ales were: 'Chimera Honey Blonde' by Wiltshire-based Downton Brewery, 'Taiphoon' by Hopback Brewery, also based in Wiltshire, 'Lundy Gold' by Wizard Ales based in the Devonshire town of Ilfracombe, 'Pale Rider' by Sheffield-based Kelham Island Brewery, 'Blake's Heaven' (clever name) by Gosport's own Oakleaf Brewing Co., and then three more ales whose names made me laugh, mainly because I have a distinctly filthy mind... the ales were, 'Old Dick' by Suthwyk Ales, 'Old Shag' by RCH Brewery and finally 'Rumpy Pumpy' by Branded Drinks Partnership.
As you can see, I've selected four of the breweries to provide links to. Please click on any one of them to visit that particular brewery's website.

Friday 5th February 2010 12:48

At the end of another rant of mine, you may wonder how a northerner, with a northern accent, can criticise how people pronounce certain words. Well I can, and I will. There are the annoying ones where letters are added, mixed up or just said totally wrong such as dandruft (dandruff), allergict (allergic), ridiclious (ridiculous) and alcrolic (alcoholic).
One incredibly annoying one that I noticed in the north is when a double T in a word becomes a double K and a double D becomes a double G. Examples of this are likkle, sekkle and kekkle as well as miggle, doggle and riggle. To say it fucks me off is an understatement... who taught these cretinous churls to speak?

In my opinion, the maintainence of pronounciation is critical. That's irony by the way, I was just highlighting another two words that are said consistently incorrectly. The amount of people that think maintain becomes maintainence... it doesn't... it's maintenance. And whilst we're on the subject pronounce becomes pronunciation. Aaarrrggghhh!!! Now is the time to slay a whole village of the inbred variety, clean up the land.

H

So, why the symbols above? Have you worked out what they are? Well, the first one is a semaphore, the miggle (sorry, couldn't resist) is a signal flag and the latter is braille... the three graphics all representing the same letter - 'H'. Can you see where I'm going with this? People who know how to pronounce things correctly will. The eighth letter in the basic modern Latin alphabet is continually pronounced 'haitch' rather than 'aitch'. There isn't a fucking 'h' at the beginning of its pronunciation and never fucking has been, and what's more disturbing is that 25% of people in the United Kingdom born since the 1980s are now mispronouncing the word. The education system; if the teachers are teaching bollocks, what chance have the children? What's the point of having a language if no twat can be bothered to learn it? Time for a beer...

Thursday 4th February 2010 22:32

Although primitive man made trackways to help him trade with others, roads weren't built as we know them today, until the Romans built their first ever road, the Via Appia, in 312 B.C. Their infrastructure of roads had to be the greatest achievement of their Empire, so much so, many of them were still in use for more than a 1,000 years later.
Originally, their main purpose was for their armies to conquer other countries, giving them the monopoly to travel both quickly and safely until they were then used to simply travel from one city to another.
Following the Roman Conquest, Britain's roads spread out from London, across the country, the main links being London-Lincoln-York, London-Verulamium-Wroxeter/Chester and London-Silchester-Exeter, needless to say, back then, there wasn't a fucking traffic cone in sight, and the only hotline you could 'phone was the Caesar Orgy Hotline.

Anyway, the reason I'm talking about all of this is because whilst at my consultancy job today, there was a large delivery that came on an HGV and the driver was talking about passing his HGV Test and the different routes he takes, so I thought it as well to look up the ancient history of our roads. Even today, some of the routes that Roman roads took are still in use today, none more so than the A46 from Leicester to London and the A5 from St Albans to Wales. As a matter of interest, place names that end in 'chester' often mean that the town or city is of Roman origin for it derives from Latin, meaning 'camp' or 'fortress'.

highways agency

So, Britain's modern-day equivalent of the Roman road is none other than the Highways Agency and together with the Department for Transport, spearheaded by Rt Hon Lord Andrew Adonis, who is the Secretary of State for Transport. The Highways Agency has a major role in delivering the 'Government's Ten Year Plan for Transport'. It is responsible for operating, maintaining and improving the strategic road network in England - that's what it says they do. In my opinion, they couldn't run a bath, let alone be given the task to 'improve'.

The Secretary of State for Transport could vastly improve Britain's roads by stopping farming fuckers from using major trunk roads in rush hour, banning anyone above the age of 80 from ever getting behind a wheel, teaching women the basic principles of a roundabout and setting up a funeral pyre for traffic cones.
To find out more, please click on the only decent thing related to the Highways Agency... that's their very clever logo above.

Wednesday 3rd February 2010 21:30

News broke out today that Katie Price married cage fighter and Celebrity Big Brother winner, Alex Reid. I just want to stress how despicable I think that woman is. I did a 'Google' search on her earlier and I just hadn't realised how many men she's been linked with. I cannot, for one second, condone how many partners she's had, in some respects it's healthy, nevertheless, it's the way she conducts her so-called 'private' life and then has the audacity to criticise the press for not giving her room to breathe. Stupid twat.

Before she started pissing around with her tits and other parts of her body, she was actually very attractive with breasts of ample proportion. According to reliable sources, she underwent five surgical procedures in the States in just one week; all this to try and improve her looks when she should be concentrating on trying not to be such a fucking gobby bitch. As much as I think that Peter Andre is a bit of a knob, at least he's pleasant, polite and possesses more than an ounce of intelligence, although that has to be debated since he married the synthetic slapper. At least she's dishwasher safe.

katie price

It has also been reported that William Hill is taking bets at 10/1 that the happy couple will officially announce their separation by the end of the month... that's some fucked up marriage since February is the shortest month. The sooner it ends, the better for everyone, particularly Alex. Not only is he known for cage fighting, he's also freely admitted to being a cross-dresser... I think I'd prefer to admit that than being married to that heinous harlot.
Anyway, if for some strange reason you find Katie Price endearing, please be sad enough to visit her ghastly website by clicking on the logo above.

Tuesday 2nd February 2010 18:06

I have a serious question today... today's blog is all about erotic photography and the link I'm providing will take you to a huge amount of images that include both female and male genitalia, penetration, oral sex and fetish clothing. Some may be absolutely repulsed by such photography, whereas the majority of shots included in this website are sensual and very tastefully done, particularly the lighting with some of the black and white images.
So the burning question is, is it art or pornography? I see it as art.

eclectica erotica

Call me a pervert but I'd love to do this sort of photography, not for kicks I hasten to add, it's all about form, angles and light as far as I'm concerned. The one shot that epitomises every single one was taken by photographer Gordon Denman. Rather than show it publicly on here, I'd sooner stick within the restraints of decency and law by providing a link here to view it. You are under no obligation to view, and in doing so, you confirm that you are of the legal age to do so.
To see much more work along a similar style, please click on the eclecticaErotica logo above. If you are under 18, please find something else to look at... not that I did when I was that age...

Monday 1st February 2010 20:22

Based in Barcelona, Spain, GMK free fonts is yet another superb free font site, one with more than just run-of-the-mill fonts and, across the several GMK sites they own, they also offer a free logo site.

GMK free fonts

Within the site, there is a step-by-step guide showing how to install fonts on both Mac or PC, although the screen shots of the Mac window panes are somewhat antiquated, I'd go as far to say that even at their youngest, they're Mac OS 9.2.2. Anyway, their font tally to-date is 6571 and growing, so I'm sure there will be a font that will suit your design needs.
Please click on the logo above to access the site. At first glance, the logo looks as if that wonderful font 'Times Bold' has been used... in actual fact it's Excelsior Bold. I can be such a boring twat at times. (At times? - Ed).

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